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*Photo via NBATV
The Cleveland Cavaliers fell to the Warriors in an overtime thriller, 108-100. The stat of the night for the Cavs, a pathetic nine bench points to 34 Warrior bench points. After this tough loss let’s take a look at the top five takeaways for the Cavs.
1.LeBron James looked as unstoppable as possible when shooting the ball 38 times. James was able to bully himself down low and got almost every look he wanted. James had a career NBA Finals high of 44 points, but he did struggle again from three, shooting just two for eight. LeBron will need to perform like this at least another four times for a true shot at a title, but tonight showed he’s more than capable.
2.Yet again we’re going into the night wondering “is Kyrie Irving going to play?” , the extent in which his knee is hurt isn’t clear, however, it didn't look promising. Up to the injury, Irving looked quick and was very active. Irving scored 23 points and dished out six assists while contributing four steals and two blocks on the other end. If Irving can shake off this injury and perform like he did tonight every Cavs fan can take a sigh of relief, if not it may be panic time.
3,The one upside the Cavs had going into the series was rebounding, many saw this Cavs roster as being the more aggressive team down low that would win the rebound battle. However, after being in-charge on the boards most of the game the script flipped and the Warriors won the battle 48-45. The Cavs are not deep enough to outshoot the Warriors, they must win the game on hustle plays. Winning the loose balls, is where the Cavs will win and lose this series.
4.The worse scenario for the Cavs came into light tonight when J.R Smith, shot a horrid 3-13 tonight for just nine points. Smith for much of the night looked unattached, and out of rhythm after a hot start. If the Cavs want to get back into the series, this has to be a fluke game for Smith.
5.The one bright side was Timothy Mozgov for much of the game he was very effective and a constant offensive force on a Cavs team that needed it. Mozgov had 16 points and seven rebounds, if he can remain an option in the offense and one or two players step up, this will remain a long series as many have predicted, including myself.